Next Level Pros - #159: How to Build a Business Without Losing the People You Love // Daryl Kelly // Next Level Podcast
Episode Date: August 7, 2025Welcome to a new episode of Next Level Pros! In this episode, we dive deep into the realities of entrepreneurship and family life. Daryl Kelly is joined by his daughter Evelyn Kelly for an honest conv...ersation about growing up in an entrepreneurial household, balancing ambition with family connection, and the lessons learned along the way. This episode is for parents chasing big goals without losing touch with what matters most, and for kids witnessing the journey up close.Highlights:"Being an entrepreneur isn't just about building a business. It's about carrying the weight of providing while trying to be present at home.""Success isn't just one thing, it's a million things combined.""I just want to be able to have whatever, keep my choices open.""The reason I want people to be at my house is to see that I'm not chasing money, but I'm building a family."Timestamps:00:00 – Introduction01:33 – Evelyn’s Unique Path: Graduating High School and College Early02:37 – Realizing Dad Was Different: The Entrepreneurial Mindset05:01 – Quality Over Quantity: Making Family Time Count10:31 – The Impact of Absence: When Dad Was Away16:10 – Childhood Hardships: Seeing the Ups and Downs19:14 – Redefining Success: More Than Money22:36 – What Drives Evelyn: Going 100% in Everything28:55 – High School Side Hustle: Building a Dance Business40:46 – Family as the Why: Building a Legacy Beyond WealthWant me to teach you how to grow your business? Text me! 509-374-7554Want access to more of my content? Click the link below for all of our latest updates and events!https://linktr.ee/nextlevelprosWant to be a guest on our show? Apply here!https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1YlkVBSluEKMTg4gehyUOHYvBratcxHV5rt3kiWTXNC4/viewform?edit_requested=trueWatch my latest PodcastApple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/next-level-pros/id1687030281Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/show/1e0cL2vI1JAtQrojSOA7D2?si=95980cd4e55a437aYouTube- https://www.youtube.com/@NextLevelPros
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Being an entrepreneur isn't just about building a business.
It's about carrying the weight of providing while trying to be present at home.
And honestly, there's a pull between the two.
And it's real.
This is an honest conversation about what it's like growing up in a house
where the drive to build never really turns off,
the times I showed up, and the times I didn't.
This episode is for every parent out there who is trying to chase big goals
without losing connection with the people who matter most.
And for every kid who's watching the journey up close.
Let's dive in.
Daryl, today we've got a extremely special guest.
I think maybe even more special to you more than me, huh?
Yes, it is.
It's the infamous Evelyn Kelly with us.
Welcome, Evelyn.
Thank you.
Evelyn, how are you related to this idiot right here?
This is my father, dad, Daryl, Kelly.
Yes.
So, it's interesting, I wanted Evelyn on.
She's leaving the house soon.
So she's my oldest daughter, and she is going to be going to college.
and Evelyn is a unique individual and so I wanted to have her on because I think there's a lot
of things that we can talk about that really apply to, you know, people who are out there raising
kids, business owners, and I think she has a good perspective to share.
Eve, let's just start at the beginning.
Okay.
So you just graduated high school just a month ago, right?
Yeah.
And what's special about that is you kind of graduated twice in like the same week or something.
Yeah. You graduated with a high school degree and an associate's degree? Yeah, there's a program where we live called Running Start where you can, the last two years of high school, you only take college courses and it makes you able to graduate with an AA and a high school diploma. And you just turned 18. I'm still 17.
Still 17. You've got a college degree and a high school degree. Yeah. Wow. Smart woman. Congrats. But the real,
reason you're here is we want to figure out what it was like for you as a young child growing up
with an entrepreneur father because I think a lot of our listeners can relate where they're starting
businesses or even have multiple businesses but they're trying to figure out this way to balance
their livelihood with their business but also how that can integrate and affect their personal
life. So at a very young age, were you aware of your father?
being super entrepreneurial and if not when did you start to understand what he was doing
he didn't have just like a job like other dads yeah i would say um before even like thinking about
what my dad does for work he's a very he's the best problem solver i ever met he's always he's very
innovative and always thinks of ways to solve problems and i think that's a very entrepreneur mindset
is to have a business have problems and figure out how to solve them um so i think before i knew he
was an entrepreneur, I created these businesses himself. I knew that he was someone that could
solve problems quickly. And I think that was my first realization like, okay, like dad's different. He
has a different mindset than most. How old do you think you were when you understood that,
when you started to realize that? Um, I would say probably like nine or ten when I kind of started
thinking of problems, but my dad wouldn't think of it a problem. I think of it as something to
solve, I think was when I was like, okay, like, he thinks differently. This isn't a problem.
It's a, it's a time we can find a solution. Did you feel like as a child that your dad was different
than other dads? Obviously, you're a little biased, but what the problem solving was one thing,
but how did you know that your dad seemed different than other dads? I think, um, most kids could come
to school and say what their dad does for work, but I don't think I was ever able to do that in elementary
school um if someone says what did what does your dad do for work and it'd be like well we're talking
about this week or next week it could change depending on the weather so i think um that was definitely
big is i knew my dad was different from others when my kid my friends could be like oh like
my dad's a doctor or he does this or that um but i was like i have no idea and i'd go home and
i think it was always changing but yeah i would say that was when i realized let's just ask what
does your dad do? I don't know. I still don't know. I mean, I'm on a podcast right now, but I still
don't know exactly what Daryl Kelly does. You know, it's interesting as an entrepreneur, like you're gone
a lot, you're traveling, and, you know, I don't know if you realize, I mean, it was a normal thing
for you, but when I was gone a lot, I think the thing that matters most is the relationship
between me and my wife, because that's really what you guys see when I am home.
is like that relationship play out, right?
How would you think that's impacted our relationship?
I would say that if I were to compare you to not necessarily saying a normal dad,
but a father figure that maybe isn't traveling and goes from work to work from like 9 to 5
every day and has that more of a consistent routine compared to how you have with traveling,
I would say you spent more quality over quantity when it came to time.
I think it's easy for anyone to come home and just be done with the day.
You've lived your day, but I think a lot of times when the dad comes home is right when the
kids ready to live their day and experience things with their dad.
And I would say that because you would come home and spend that quality time with us,
and mom, that really showed us like he's here for us, not just for work.
I think a lot of times when you're an entrepreneur, you're just there for work. And that's all
you can think about. But I definitely feel like you were there for us, quality over quantity.
We always talk about the peas and impacting time. It's not about having a balanced amount of time
to spend on your physical and economics and associations and spirituality, but making sure
that we have an impact amount of time in all of those four sections of life.
Evelyn, what was it like for you on your dad trying to spend quality time? Like, what did
that look like for you? Like what was he doing to make sure that the time he did spend, whether it's
five minutes or five hours, how was that impactful for you? What was he doing? Yeah, I would say something
I learned from him was when he comes home from work, it's almost impossible for anyone in the house
to tell you, like, look at him or talk to him and be like, okay, today was a terrible day at work
or today was the best day he's ever had. Just because when he comes home, his whole focus is family.
like work is left at the workplace that energy is left there it shifts on the way back and the whole
focuses on his family and i think that's really big when it comes to spending quality time is like okay
you could be running around with your kid but like are you still in the back of your mind thinking
about something which i'm sure he is but he's never shown it to us and i think that was a big impact on
our family especially through the times where i'm sure you were struggling but we would never know
because he never showed that to us not because he was trying to keep it a secret because he wanted to
genuinely spent time with us each day.
Well, I read a book earlier on in my career where it talks about a doctor when he show up for
work for when he show up from work, he would always in figuratively take off his jacket and
hang it outside of his house.
And when he took that off, he would take off all the stress, all the work, everything and
hang it outside of his house.
And then when he walked to his house, none of his day would impact him.
And so that's always stuck with me.
And so, you know, that and then Tony Robbins.
teaches a lot about maintaining your state. And so when I walk in the house, I come in with
like the most excited energy regardless of how exhausted I am. Because truthfully, like being exhausted
is a choice. There's always more in the tank. There's always more we can offer. And I really do
think we can show up energetically and emotionally for our family, right when we walk in the
door. And so you know, like when I come home, like I get hugs from my kids. They're excited to see me
because they know I'm always going to be excited to see them. I don't come in with like, oh, this is
exhausting because there's a few times where it's like you can't hide it and it sucks and
that's just is what it is but that's pretty rare and most of the time I come in with the most
excitement I can in any given day and I know my kids expect that and so that's been I think that's
been an important lesson I've learned I agree and I think it's funny because when I started
working at the physical therapy office I realized how hard it is to take off that coat and even just
like be like physically active after work like you are exhausted but i think even as like a young
can i remember like dad comes home we go outside we throw a baseball or we go ride a dirt bike like
i can't name many people that have that especially myself have that much energy after work to come
home and genuinely want to see your kids have a good time and like use like like physically go
hang out with them because you could come home any day and just like talk to them at dinner then go to
bed, but he physically comes, talks to us. So I have four girls. So I'm like, my girls are
going to do whatever they want to do. I like riding dirt bikes. I'm like, I'll introduce him to
their bikes. So they ride dirt bikes. But then like the whole throwing the baseball, I'm like,
my girls can throw. So I bought mitts and baseball. No one plays baseball, but it's just so we can
learn to throw. Or softball. But anyways, yeah, we've, especially Evelyn, there's times where I would
just throw the ball to her and she talked to me for like.
an hour. And I don't think I say anything in return, but I just listen. Remember that? Yeah,
it's a lot of girls, so it's a lot of listening, but, but it always, it always, it helps to
have someone listen. But yeah. And I mean, like, even like later in life, just like those little
things, like throwing the baseball, like the other day I was throwing a football and I was like,
who am I? Like I, perfect spiral. I was like throwing it over our house. I was like, I have never like,
what is going on? But just like those little.
little moments that he hangs out, like hangs out and talks to us really make an impact in like
five years randomly throwing a football. And it's official. My girls can all throw a football better
than me. You know, I can't throw a spinal. You damn, damn sure can't. Hey guys, it's Chris. If you're
finding value in what you're hearing, go ahead and like and subscribe. That way people just like you
can find this content for free here on YouTube. Now let's stop back in the show. Was there,
was there ever a time that you felt his presence got?
Not necessarily. I think one time you did go to Rhode Island when we need some money
and you were gone for like a month, I think. That was hard just because our youngest sister was just
born. But I think that was the only time just because Mary was so little that it was like,
whoa. That was the craziest month of my life. I literally felt like I had given birth to a baby
too because you were gone. I was like, I'm bringing this baby to bed. That was crazy.
Because you had a lot to Burton. You're the oldest child of all of your.
siblings, correct? Yeah. And so your dad's gone for X amount of time. And maybe you don't even know
how much time he's actually going to be gone. What are you experiencing in real time? Like,
take me back. Like, if I could be there with you, I'm your younger sister. I'm Jane. And I see you
kind of also helping taking care of your youngest sister now, just recently born. Like, what am I
seeing? What am I feeling? Yeah, I would say, I think that honestly helped me in a way. Like, I am the
oldest so I do have a lot of like leadership like roles that I take on in the family and especially
with my dad being gone I think I like really took that on which is funny now because my dad is home
more than he was I feel like at that stage so now it's like all these leaders in the family like
figuring out how to work with each other but I guess in Jane's eyes she'd see like I mean Mary
literally shared a bed like her crib was three feet away from mine until she was I think four months old
and so I was the one here's a pacifier here's a bottle
So I think that was a very interesting experience, but it was like the best way I could help my mom at that stage.
Did you, I want to be super honest because I think your story can relate to a lot of entrepreneurs that are listening to this that might have kids that could be in your shoes right now of when you were taking care of your siblings as almost like a secondary parent stepping up.
Did you ever have any angst or or anger or resentment towards your dad during that time?
obviously now it's much different but in real time are you experiencing those feelings um i don't think
i i think i felt like bad for my mom at certain times but i never felt anything i knew my dad was
doing what he was supposed to and he was providing for our family so it didn't really bring up any
like hard feelings because i knew he was trying his best to do what he could but at the same time
quality over quantity when i did see him it was very valuable time where he told me he loved me or
he would write me notes or he'd send me something. So I think knowing that, I just knew my dad was
doing his best. I think too if I think I was very clear. Me and Joanna like we've always had to talk
about these these when I'm out of town and what's going on. And I think she was one, she was always
supportive. So I don't think the girl's ever heard anything negative from her about me. I'm sure
she'd get stressed out and there'd be a lot of work or just she'd want to break. And so they would feel
that, but I don't think they ever heard negativity directed at me. And so I think that was also
a huge thing because I know when I'd come home, I'd never experience or hear like those things
being said. And I think that was pretty, pretty important. I agree. And I think that's a huge role
played by mom at that point is something my mom's always told me she's like, even if I'm with all my
best friends in like a room, she's like, I'll never talk bad about your dad. Even if I'm mad at him
because it's like at the end of the day, if I have a conversation with your dad, we're going to figure it out and it's going to be fine. So why throw that negativity everywhere when it's like not worth your time? So I agree. I think mom had a big role in like not throwing any negative shade at you or anything. And also kind of what you brought up is there were times where my parents would sit me down and be like, okay, dad's going to be gone for a couple weeks. And so I think that helped too is knowing kind of like what the plan was. So my dad never just left. I was
always, like, aware of the plan, the situation, even at a young age, and I feel like that helped.
How, how, what, you as a child and your parents would sit you down, like, hey, dad's going to be
gone for a couple weeks. It's going to be hard. What, what did you hear? Like, what are they saying to
you, at least from your perspective? Yeah, I think they obviously told me the situation.
Um, I didn't know, like, everything, but I think with Rhode Island, he just told me, like,
he's going to be gone. I think it was the winter. So winter season. So winter season.
reason and the biggest thing was just like understanding like we'll just need you to help mom
with the kids but i don't know i never felt like i needed like a whole explanation i just kind of
like understood like that's just how we are like we just have to help each other out in the family
so i don't think there was ever like oh this is happening this is happening like you have to help
in this way i feel like i just knew like that was just what we were supposed to do i want to i want to bring
this up because i think it's important what you two just highlighted like the support you and joanna your
wife have for each other you know like i'll never say something bad about my spouse even around
my friends or things like that i think sometimes we get caught up though in withholding information
to give to our spouse in fear of like like things are actually not great in the business right now
or things are tough can't figure out in order to try to protect that person evelyn did you
ever experience as a child because your guys's story is crazy like
You guys went through a lot of hardship and adversity.
Did you ever feel like things were struggling, like that things were bad,
at least from your perspective as a child?
I look back and I'm like, wow, like, I want to say things were ever bad, but they're
definitely different.
I would say one time you were thinking about investing in a beef farm and we went and we lived
in a, I would say shack pretty close to like.
No, it was a farmhouse.
No, it was not.
It was not.
Let me tell you. When I tell you, I had, like, it was not a farmhouse. It was, okay, in my seven-year-old mind, I didn't think it was a farmhouse. We had moved from, like, this city, this townhouse to this, like, farm house where I wore boots everywhere. Like, just not, like, it was, I don't know, it was really different for me. But also, that was, like, the best part of my childhood. Like, I never saw it as, like, a, oh, like, things are bad. Like, I don't know. I thought it, it was, like, the funnest thing I ever did. I, like, woke up, fed goats, went to,
bed woke up fed chickens like it was like the funnest little like 10 months in my life um but I would say like
I don't think you ever came up to us any of your kids and was like things are bad by the way like I don't
think that was ever like told to us I think it was always like how can it get better than this but
nothing was ever oh it's bad like and I think that's important like to keep your kids mindset of like
it'll always get better it's good or this is like the best thing ever yeah well I feel like you know
I already know what my worst case scenario is.
And so, like, I never felt like things were bad.
It was always about just figuring out how to make it better.
Yeah.
Worst case scenario, I'm living in the basement of my in-laws.
And I mean, being seven-year-old and living in the basement of your grandma's house,
probably the best situation to happen to you.
So, yeah, I mean, you would say that.
You're like, well, worst-case scenario, we live at grandmas.
What's a seven-year-old going to say, no?
Like, yeah, of course, let's do it.
I think once I understood my worst-case scenario, I was like,
all right, let's, let's make, let's make something great happen.
So let's, let's kind of go into you and how you've developed.
I think one of the most important things is, is a lot of people sacrifice family for success.
And what are some of the things you feel like contributed to your, just who you are today?
Like how has either me or your mom, like, influenced you to be who you are?
or what are some external things that have helped you?
I would say that something that you've taught me when it comes to like success.
I feel like a lot of people aren't taught is success isn't just one thing.
It's a million things combined.
And so I think something that like as I get older when I'm like, okay, I want to be successful.
It's like, no, like I don't want to just like make a bunch of money as great as that sounds.
Like I want to make money.
I want to get married.
I want to have kids.
I want to grow my relationship with God and my spouse.
Like, I think I want to be the best, like, physically I can be.
And I think something that you and mom have taught me is, like, the success in that is
way more than any other success by, like, one thing.
You know, it's like a bunch of things put together.
You're saying instead of choosing your success, it's success is how you live your whole life.
100%.
Yeah.
I don't think, a lot of times people think this one thing is like, okay, if I just get this,
sell this business for X amount of money, like, I'm successful.
but you could sell a business for this amount of money and like not be your best physical self
if that makes sense and I feel like becoming the best version of yourself would be success to me
um you know something that Alex has told me that really stuck out when he met you was you made
the comment that you love your body um has that always been the case uh well backstory I'm 6-2 and
taller than Daryl, for all the viewers, wondering.
Okay, he's actually 6'1 and 3 quarters and made me think I was 6.3 for, like,
three years, but I'm 6'2.
And I think growing up, that's very uncommon.
And especially in, like, sports was very interesting.
And I think I, for some reason, have always, like, I don't know, obviously it's, like, an insecurity of mine.
but I think as I've gotten older, it's become more of a superpower of mine.
And yeah, I don't know.
I just, like, have learned to, like, love my body through working out and, like,
becoming as fit as I can with the body that I have.
I guess I think the reason that's important is how many times have I heard you
frustrated about your body or height, all those things?
So I know there's, I know that's something that a lot of kids go through is where they, like,
are really frustrated about their body, whether they're too short or too tall or too fat or too
skinny or not strong enough or how do you get to that point? I would say I definitely had a
turning point when I felt that my body was, I was really skinny my sophomore year. I want to say
my sophomore year. And I was like, okay, like I play volleyball. Like I'm active, but I'm not
like physically in the best shape. And I needed to like put on some weight. So I started. So I started
started training, and I had this amazing trainer. And he, I think I gained, like, at the end of
everything, I think I gained, like, 30 to 40 pounds, which was crazy. But I was, like, skin and bones
beforehand. And because I, like, worked up to, like, fitting into my body, I feel like once I was
at the peak of that, I was like, okay, like, I love my body. Like, I fit into it. I felt, like,
strong I didn't just feel like weak and tall so I felt like I kind of saw my body and I was like
okay what can I do with this and then I just worked really really hard I worked out three days a week
and I became very confident in the body that I helped like become the best version of I would say
so what drives you like in what makes you a driven person I know you're you've worked I know your
trainer told me like you work harder than a lot of the top athletes he works with I know you've
had three jobs at one point. I know you're, you know, you're, you're doing a college,
you're doing school, you're doing a lot of different things. Like, where do you get your drive from?
Like, what, what are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to overcompensate for something?
Do you feel like you have this vision you're following? Like, what is it that drives you?
Um, I would say, I would say one of like my worst fears is having a period in my life where I feel like
I don't accomplish anything. I feel like I just have to like, okay, what's the next thing we're
going to accomplish what's the next thing that's going to like the next step. I would say if you're
not doing it 100% why do it at all? Because 100% is going to get you way further than anyone just
going 90. And I think that's something that's really pushed me is seeing athletes come in and then
their reps, I don't know, they have like three sets of 15 and they only do like two sets or something.
I'm like, is it going to kill you to do 15 more reps? No. And so I think going 100 has definitely
like been a big thing. I also think though is I don't think I would have done that unless you
taught me. One of my favorite things you ever said to me was you don't have to do it perfect. You
just have to get it done. And I feel like there's been a lot of times in my life where it's like,
okay, it's not going to be perfect, but it'll get done. And that, I mean, goes across everything.
Like sports, working out, business, school. And so I think that's a big thing that I've learned.
when have kind of pivoting a little bit you guys over you guys have dealt with a lot since you've been
born dealt with a lot of adversity and over the last probably five six years you guys have
been able to finally at least from my perspective outside in start to what on paper people
would say looks like success like yeah the house you know you know having a rich ass dad
yeah you know let's just be real okay rich ass dad
how much have you seen with the effort that you know that your father's put in over the last
you know 17 years that you've been alive and now being able to experience life on paper through a new
lens but I imagine your dad hasn't changed for you yeah I would say I remember like a couple
years back I was like wow like I wish I was like I have three little sisters I was like if I was
like one of them like I would live this like my whole childhood would be like this like that
would be crazy. But then I remember telling him, I was like, no, like, it's honestly incredible
that I was with you through the whole journey and like saw all like the ups and downs. I think that
was really, really interesting to me. And I think wouldn't, I wouldn't have become the person I
am today if I wouldn't have seen all the lows and all the highs. And now today, you know,
you've seen your father become this awesome entrepreneur. Now you're kind of stepping into this
entrepreneurial role yourself. Are you doing that?
because you feel like you have to follow in your dad's footsteps or do you feel or has he pushed you in a way or
are you making this choice and decision to go through this lifestyle for yourself? I would say that I'm
very money driven and I think like even from a young age I remember we did a fundraiser. It's like my
first money making like um opportunity I'd say I think I was like six now I was in first grade
And it was a school fundraiser where you go door to door and you knock.
And my dad told me, he's like, okay, just like, go for it.
Like, I'll stand behind you.
We'll go to the neighbor's house.
And I'd knock on the neighbor's house.
And I would say, hey, I'm doing a fundraiser.
If you have any money, we could, we can use it for the fun.
Something like that.
Like just like this.
I actually can tell you what you said.
Okay.
Go ahead.
It was.
You first went to your, to your first customer.
She paid you $20, which was a lot.
Mm-hmm.
And then you went to every other person.
you said, hey, I'm doing a fundraiser, so-and-so paid $20, you can pay whatever you'd like.
And because of that, you got more and more people paying $20.
So you kind of...
And it was a pretty straightforward, like, yeah, I just remember I would ask the question,
but without them saying anything, I would hand them the board.
And I'd be like, soft clothes.
She was closing hard.
I was like, here you go.
You can have this.
But, yeah, I'd say ever...
Did you experience that?
I think this is actually really cool.
Okay.
Did you experience that, like, handing the clipboard and asking the question that's the way that you did?
Is that internal from you?
Or are you getting that from your dad?
Like, is your dad in your ear like, hey, here's a play by play.
We're going to run this.
We're going to do that.
Or where is that coming from from you?
I think it's internal.
I think I've always.
Yeah.
I think me and my dad have talked about this.
Like a lot of my sisters, like, are, well, like, are like the coolest ever.
But like just not as money driven as me.
I feel like I've always been like, okay, what's a little side hustle we can think of right now?
So I think it's the best having his support, but I would say that I really do have like that drive.
So I can remember going on vacation to Cabo and when she saw bartering, she fell in love.
She's like, I want to barter.
So I remember spending like two hours at the marketplace with $100 in ones and just letting her barter.
We had nothing to buy.
She was just wanting to barter things.
and she loved the process.
And so I think for her, she's just,
I don't know what it is internally
that drives her that way,
but my other daughters don't have that,
at least in the same way she does.
And I think it's for a parent,
it's like identifying what really drives your kid
and then just supporting them in that
because I don't want my other kids
to have to act like she is,
but I also want her to like really learn and grow
with where she's driven.
Yeah.
And I think also, I, what's interesting is out of all the siblings, I think I would be the least
to be entrepreneurs, like have the entrepreneur like outlook just because I've seen how many
lows there's been, you know, like throughout my childhood. But in another way, I think that's like
the best thing. Because I'm like, it's inconsistent, but I almost love that it's inconsistent.
Well, now you're not even, you're done with high school. You even have a huge head start on college,
but you haven't waited to start your entrepreneurial journey.
Like you've already started, it's been cool.
I've been able to watch you grow up and you've built one of the coolest side hustles I've
ever seen.
And I think you know what I'm talking about.
Share quickly 30 seconds, the problem that you were solving what you did and how you made
money off of this.
Yeah.
So I was going to my senior year and I had a job at all through high school.
It was just mainly volleyball for me.
And I was like, all right, like got a lot of money to make for college.
I was like, what's the fastest way I could make money? Or what could I do? So this girl who had been
putting on these dances, they're called the Tri-City Dances. So they're for all the high schools and all the
cities where we live. And she puts on one big dance. She does homecoming, Tolo, winter formal, and
prom. And it's nice because everyone from all the high schools here, I'd say, are pretty close. So everyone
can come. All your friends are there. She rents out a venue with DJ.
And so I, uh, I'd seen that she had done it and I was like, I know she makes a lot of money.
I should do this. But I didn't have the following that she did. So I was like, maybe I'll just like,
DM her and like just like ask. Which is funny because Levi actually, I remember there was one day where
Levi was like, I kept saying it for like a month or two. And then Levi was like, like just do it.
Like he literally was like, you need to do this right now. Like DM her right now. And so that was a big push.
so I damned her and it was just like worked out perfectly she's like yes perfect I kind of like negotiated with her because she had the following that I didn't so I was like if I can use your following I'll give you some money from the dances that I make and she just like kind of passed on her business to me because she had graduated so she was in college at this point and then I did those dances my senior year so that's kind of what the business looked like and you know just to flex on everybody in here why don't you just flex a little bit how many on you did four dances on average how much
total money are these dances bringing in?
I would say like on average from all the dances, I would say like, like the I make or just like
No, the whole, the whole dance.
How many, you know, tickets are you selling how much money you're bringing for the dance?
I would say we sold, um, every dance we'd sell about 500 tickets and most of the dances we
were able to sell out, which was nice.
But I'd say we'd bring in like anywhere from like our biggest one was 20 grand.
and I think our smallest one was like eight so that was a big I don't know if you guys are processing that she did that four times as like a 16 17 year old girl in high school and you're making more than somebody who would work full time minimum wage you did that by being the coolest kid by hosting the coolest parties and making a ton of money off of it yeah yeah so I think what's also interesting was that your only job at this time no I remember end of my senior year I had three jobs and um I remember I remember
I so I had that job and which is really funny what's funny about just like a little off topic is a lot of kids I've never like said those numbers out loud because a lot of kids are like how much do you make how much do you make but if you would look at the flyer and you would see that 500 tickets are sold out you would times it by how much it is it's like you can do the math you guys can pocket watch if you want to me and it's they always ask me I'm like well you can do the math and they're like oh yeah I don't know I think that's funny but um obviously
I don't tell them how much, like, I personally make. Okay, but back to the other jobs.
So I did the dances, and then I did, I worked at a physical therapy clinic for eight months,
and then I did the social media marketing for Ms. Washington for a couple months.
So what did you learn or what was your experience working at the physical therapy?
I think physical therapy was really interesting because being a physical therapist, I would never choose to do.
it's not like really a path that I was planning on taking or do now. But I think like it was very like
God given. Like I think I learned a lot about just loving people and loving everyone from all the
different like backgrounds people can come from. And so I think that was just really interesting to meet
all the people that I did at physical therapy. And something I didn't realize about physical therapy is
these patients come in three times a week every week. It's not like, oh, come for an eye appointment once every
six months. So you really did build good relationships with these people and get to know them. So I
really enjoyed that. Cool. Why did you do that job? I didn't want to work at fast food and I didn't
want to work at a retail store. So I kind of was thinking more medical. And so I, my friend had worked
there. And so obviously I knew she had the boss's number. She had worked there. So I was like, hey,
can you slide me the number
I'll text him
and I walked
I just walked in one day
gave him my resume
walked out and then I got the job
like a week later
but you're making money on dances
why did you need a second job
um
close
just kidding I don't know
you greedy ass
I don't know I just love me
I literally just love making money
and
um I think it was good for me
to work a job like that
and realize like yeah
like I this is not I respect everyone like in that work field obviously but I realize like my way of
making money is the entrepreneurship way of making money what what is it about making money because
I for as long as I've known you haven't been you're not like a materialistic person
I would say like you like things obviously but I wouldn't consider you materialistic what is it
about your drive to make money that you love um I would say I mean I want to say I'm very material
But I think that's kind of like, like, I don't know, like, I remember, I just never want to be like, oh, like, I can't get that, which sounds weird. But I just remember, like, I talked to my sister Jane the other day. She's like, oh, I really want these jeans. And I was like, well, I can't get them. She's like, well, I don't have any money. And I was like, what do you mean? And she just told me just like, I don't know, I don't know any money. And I was like, well. And I just like, literally the first thing came in mind is like, okay, what are the things she could do? She could babysit this weekend. She could walk, she could maybe like go walk dogs in the neighborhood. Like, I just, I feel like for me, it's like almost.
thing like I just want to be able to um have whatever like be open have like whatever I guess
yeah choices like keep my choices open options open so did you point at your sister and be like how
how you're so poor no like wow that's but I did tell her I was like you could probably think of a way
to make that money in a week but okay so now you know you've you've you've hustled right you've had three
jobs one of them like you started from the ground up pretty much and you've also worked a couple
jobs and now you're still going off to college and I think there is like two tropes out there you've got
people who are entrepreneurs that are like screw the school system you know it's a scam you're in the
matrix then you have the other side of the coin you're like no I like consistency I'm going to go to
school I'm going to do the tradition around X Fonzie but somehow you're you're kind of blending both
yeah why what is your intention with going to school and what are you trying to do I would say if I hadn't
gotten my AA already, I think that would have been kind of messy for me, just because school does
take quite a few years to finish. But I'm going in to marketing, and I think that I just kind of want
to learn, like, the, I don't know, like, what's the dictionary of marketing? Like, let's learn all the
vocabter. Like, I think what's hard about schools a lot of times, like, you're what you're saying
is people are like, okay, well, you can just learn that in a real life situation, which is true.
and that's how entrepreneurship is too. You can teach entrepreneurship, but the best way to do it is
do it. And so I think I'm going to school to network and to meet people and to understand
different people. But I think knowing that I also only have two years of school is very like,
okay, like we can get through this. But yeah, I think that for me is kind of why. It's like I'm going
down to Utah. Utah is huge. And there's lots of people you can.
meet and get to know. So I think networking is really big. Pull for me. If you could say what you're
proud of the most from your dad, what would you say? I would say I'm proud of how like close our
family has been together. Our, um, our house especially has been something, what did you call it that
one time? Um, you're like, our house is like a sanctuary. And I feel like we really have been able to
create a family where if you come in you feel like loved and connected and I think that's really
important to just our families to feel connected to each other and like live in a place that we all
feel loved by so what have you seen from evelyn darrell that you are the most proud of that
you want to share to the people into evelyn um i think i've seen evelyn come go through a lot of
struggles. I've seen her have to endure some challenging times. And what's been so impressive
about her is just her ability to stand up and speak for herself. This was something where, like,
I was there at any point to step in, but she was always willing to take the lead. And so I was
more of a supporting role than I was trying to direct her and push her. It's the same reason why
she hasn't worked for me because I'd rather her be herself than, like, her try to fit underneath me.
or fit into what I'm doing.
So I would just say, like, I think the proudest thing is, like, she just is driven.
She has clarity and vision around who she wants to be.
And that's why, like, at this point, she's leaving in a few weeks.
I'm super excited for her to leave.
Like, I am so excited for her to leave.
I would never want her to stay any longer because she's ready to go be someone who she wants
to become, and there's just no, it kind of breaks the ties of who she has to be
because she grew up in her house and now she can just be who she wants to be.
Well, I can say this from an outside perspective.
I've seen, I've known you guys for, I don't know, eight years now or something like that.
And I've told Darrell this privately.
I think I've even told you, Evelyn, like, I'm so inspired by your guys' family with how you guys interact with each other and how you guys talk to each other and how you've been able to grow as a family.
But the money that, you know, the successful exit and all this cool stuff that people see as success to me isn't really what has.
made you guys successful as a family it's how grounded you guys have been and stuck to your
principles and darrell you've taught me that money's just an enhancer all it has done for you guys
over the last couple of years is enhanced your guys's capabilities to spend more time with your family
be more impactful help other people and when we host our masterminds from our our experiences that we
create every quarter one of the things we do is we go actually spend time at your house and what's
cool is a lot of people I think they're like hey let's go let's go to our house I'll host it up my
house and it's about the pool it's about this and showing off but what darrell is always I've noticed
is most proud of is showing off his kids and his wife Joanna and he takes everybody you'll see
him pull people to the side and be like hey this is my daughter hey this is my wife or this is what my
kiddo does or this is so cool it's never like hey come look at my Porsche in my garage it's like hey
I'm not, it's not look at my paragon boat that's sick as hell in my garage or whatever it
might be. It's always look at my family what I've been able to create. And some of the best
feedback we always get from our experience, the outcome is, wow, that time I had with
Daryl and his kids and his wife was so impactful. It was so cool because, yes, we can teach you
all the systems, all the things, all the formulas to go and make more money in your business.
but at the end of the day as entrepreneurs your identity is also tied with who you're coming home to
it's true i think and you hit on a strong point i i don't think i've ever verbalized that but like
the reason i want people to be at my house is to see that i'm not chasing money but i'm building a family
and that's that's my drive that's that's the why and i think i grew up with uh you know i had my family
there was eight siblings um and you know my dad was really driven he worked on a farm my mom was
driven to like build a family but outside that we had no uncles or aunts or grandparents that
really like cared that much about family i didn't really have good examples of like what a family
should look like outside of like our crazy family that we had and so for me it's like i want other
people to see like man like i really love my daughters i really love my wife i see i get so much joy from it
and I want others to realize, like, that's the possibility for them too.
And so that, that drives me a lot.
Like, my goal is to, you know, when we have entrepreneurs come in to build their business,
that actually I can help them or inspire them to build their families in ways that they find a ton of joy and happiness in.
If you were to give, if entrepreneurs that are watching us are showing their kids this interview.
Yeah.
And you could speak directly to the kids of,
entrepreneurs right now and you can compile everything that you've experienced in your life with
with being with your dad and your family and seeing what's unfolded and your experience
what would you compress into 30 seconds of advice wow okay um i would say yeah i would say
definitely support your dads in any way you can i think that support is like definitely what
brings our family together and like i said before success isn't just to find
buy money or what you have, but it's about what you're able to make and what you're able to
believe in. And I think if you're able to believe and make a happy and like successful and a family
that loves each other, I think that's like one of the biggest successes you can have.
For entrepreneurs out there that are struggling to connect and even just talk to their teenage daughters,
what advice would you give them? I would say as a teenager, one of your biggest,
things in high school is like your friends. And I think getting to know your daughter's friends
are just like, I think a lot of my friends will come over and they're like, oh, is Daryl going
to be there? Like, is he going to come play a game with us? He's constantly like trying to like
get to know him or like be a part of their lives, which I think is cool. I feel like a lot of
dads like, there's always like that meme that you see on TikTok where it's like, oh like I've been best
friends with your daughter for 10 years and your dad doesn't even know my name or you don't even know my
name, whatever, but I was like, that could be the exact opposite for my dad. And I think being a part of
your kids' lives means, like, really getting to know, like, who their friend is, what's the drama,
who's the boy. And... What does that look like, though? I would say, like, in what aspect? I would say,
like, you, if I have friends over, like, I know you're going to, like, call him by name and come hang out with
them. Or you're going to, like, tell... He loves to tell people, like, the most recent thing he's learned.
I'd say that's a big thing. Like, he'll say, that's a big thing. Like, he'll say,
sit us down. He'll have a chat. And I used to be annoyed by it. I'd be like, dad, like,
another, like, business or whatever chat. But then I realized, like, the way I'm parented
is very different and vastly different from most kids. And so a lot of kids, like, eat it up and,
like, like, to learn about it. And I think that that's something that I now, like, enjoy is like,
give an example because I think. Okay. Um, like, uh, a couple months ago, so my friends came
over and the boys they came over and were asking my dad some questions about his business because
they saw like he was successful and like saw our house and they like we were just like on the dining
room table talking about like business like what we're doing after high school for a while and then
my dad was like here like here's some books I think was it like rich dad poor dad or yeah so I've got
a few few books my favorite books to give out to kids I keep stacks of them in my office but like
rich dad poor dad's a great one um rhythm of life is a great one um rhythm of life
there's a few others but for me it's like if a kid's really interested the best way to know is like give
them a book sometimes I'll say hey if there's enough of them I'll say hey if you guys read this book
I'll pay you 100 bucks or 50 bucks to get them started because most kids don't want to read a book
so give them another motivation in order to pay them they have to come back and tell me about the book
but if I can get a kid to do that usually our conversations continue on and we usually have better and
better conversations. The flip side of that though, too, is if enough kids are like interested in
those things, my daughters are more interested in as well. And so it kind of opens up the conversation
not only with their friends, but with my daughters. And, uh, and I, I stumbled across that as like
a parenting hack of like influence their friends in ways you want to influence your daughter.
Yeah. I'd say the same thing. You taught my church class for a while. And that was kind of same thing.
Like we'd have like separate meetings talking about what we learned in church class because everyone
was so invested in it. I was like, oh, like, if they think my dad's cool, like, I guess I'll think
he's cool to, you know, like, you're just like, okay, yeah, like, he is pretty cool. And so I think
getting to really know, like, your kid's life is really important and who they hang out with.
My wife and I talk about all the time how we are so inspired by you guys and want to design
our family dynamic with when we have children exactly like yours. We love your daughters.
We love you and Joanna. And I encourage you guys. I invite you guys. If you're not already in
the community, and you're struggling with trying to figure out how to balance this relationship
with building this business and trying to grow out and scale it, but you're also interested
in growing and scaling your relationship with your spouse and your children and want to learn
how to design a life that really impacts the world. All I do is invite you to join a strategy
session with one of us, and we'll chat with you guys and see if you guys can come to one
of our experiences. We're hosting our next one in September, third and fourth, and they are so
much fun, but not only will you learn everything you need to know about business and how to grow
and scale, but also how to grow and scale your relationship with your family. So, thanks for
joining us, Evelyn and Daryl. Thanks. And until next time.